Dogs, Storm baffled by NRL scheduling

Date: July 10 2013

Steve Jancetic

Canterbury and Melbourne are both at a loss to explain the NRL's baffling decision to schedule the grand final re-match in the heart of the State of Origin series.

Fans have been robbed of the opportunity of seeing two of the game's powerhouses go head-to-head at full strength, Storm quartet Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Ryan Hoffman as well as Canterbury duo Josh Morris and Josh Reynolds all be spectators for Sunday's ANZ Stadium clash.

Despite a much-need two competition points being far easier to secure without the Storm's big three on deck, Bulldogs halfback Trent Hodkinson believes the scheduling had robbed the fans in what would normally be a blockbuster clash.

"We would have like to have had our Origin stars and they'd be the same, the fans would have enjoyed the grand final re-match a bit more," Hodkinson said.

"We'd rather play them at full strength with all our Origin stars, you'd get a lot more confidence coming out of that."

The Storm - one of the clubs hardest hit by Origin - asked for their two byes to be scheduled before the first and last games of the Origin series.

While their players would have had to have backed-up on short rest to play in the NRL after Origin, it would have meant playing just one game without all their representative players.

Making the decision to play the game this weekend even more bizarre is the fact that both teams have the bye next weekend - when they could have played before a healthier crowd four days after Origin III.

The Bulldogs already had one potential blockbuster ravaged by Origin, with Sydney Roosters star Sonny Bill Williams' first trip back to play his former club at ANZ Stadium hit by a number of unavailabilities three weeks ago.

Canterbury lost that game with suggestions from fullback Ben Barba that complacency may have been a factor against the short-handed Roosters - a scenario the Bulldogs are desperate not to repeat.

"We strung up a couple of wins coming off that Manly game, and leading into the Roosters you could say (we took them) a little bit too lightly," Hodkinson said.

"But after a couple of losses against Newcastle and the Roosters, we'll go into this game a bit differently and just treat them like they've got their stars."

Added prop Aiden Tolman: "We need to win this game, we need to start building a bit of confidence in the group.

"We've lost our last two in a row, we need to go out and put a good performance in."

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